Southwest Washington Medical Center's $146 million expansion information

Is the proposed project at our Daybreak property in the public interest? You decide.

Interest from the conservation endowment will be used to fund habitat restoration projects on the East Fork Lewis River.

Call 397-2232 and let the commissioners know that
solid science and not politics must guide their decision regarding the project.

Nearly 1 in 5 residency graduates
stay on to practice in Clark County

When Robin Virgin, M.D. isn’t busy with her primary care and obstetrical practice at Family Physicians Group in Fisher’s Landing, she volunteers with the Boy Scouts of America and the Evergreen School District Foundation, and she teaches Sunday school. Virgin is also a faculty member at Oregon Health and Science University.

Virgin’s community commitment is precisely the kind of impact Southwest Washington Medical Center envisioned when it first began its family practice residency practice at Family Medicine of Southwest Washington, according to David Ruiz, FMSW medical director.

Family Medicine Southwest Washington was created by the Southwest Washington Medical Center in July 1995 to address a critical shortage of primary care physicians in the community. Since it began providing three-year medical residency qualifications for primary care physicians FMSW has graduated 55 primary care physicians, nine of whom, including Virgin, are now practicing in Clark County.

“We are celebrating a major milestone and anniversary for the residency program, a program that continues to improve access to medical care in our community with a well established clinical program and the commitment of many physicians to stay in here in our community,” Ruiz says.

Virgin was the first physician to graduate from the program who made a commitment to live and practice locally. Since the program began about half of the residency graduates have remained in the Vancouver-Portland metropolitan area. Approximately 80 percent have stayed in the Pacific Northwest.

Over the past ten years FMSW physicians have cared for 315,000 patients, 15,000 of whom were hospital inpatients.

Located on the grounds of the medical center’s Mill Plain campus, FMSW is also a preferred center of care for all ethnic groups, including a large population of Russian and Hispanic patients. FMSW also provides hundreds of discount sports physicals as a community service each summer for high school athletes preparing to participate in fall sports activities.

Today six physicians completed their residencies at FMSW. They are: Kalee Aruiselvam, who will practice in Florida, Corri Bresko, who will join a former resident in a practice in Stanwood, Elise Leland, who is opening her own private practice, Orchards Family Medicine, Vancouver, Bridget Martin, who is joining a practice in Newberg, Matthew Rode, joining a practice in Redmond, and Laurel Westly, who is joining Kaiser Permanente in Portland.

Carillon music at 10:45 Saturday morning
calls us all to Propstra Square for dedication

So New York City has the Statue of Liberty; St. Louis the Arch; Seattle the Space Needle. America’s Vancouver has Propstra Square. The square has the Carillon. The carillon’s bells will hit full stride at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 25, calling all southern Washington to the square that the George and Carolyn Propstra family made possible through a dream and an accompanying $3 million check.

Propstra Square in Esther Short Park was not the beginning or the end of the Propstra largesse, but tomorrow it will be the most visible icon of what the little downtown that could is doing.

Tomorrow’s is a down home celebration.

The official dedication ceremony begins at 11 a.m. After speeches by Mayor Royce Pollard, David Judd, Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation director, Nancy Hales, president of the Community Foundation, Mary Granger, president of the I have a Dream Foundation, Benno Dobbe, owner Holland America Bulb Farms, Tom Mears, president of The Holland Inc., founded by the Propstra family, and Carolyn Propstra and family members, there will be dancing in the square—Clark County Cloggers—and bottled water, windmill cookies and tulip bulbs will be distributed.

Calendar

A reception for retiring Evergreen Public Schools superintendent Rick Melching is at 6 p.m. this evening in the Healthman Lodge Ballroom. g The Port of Vancouver’s second annual HomePort Adventure is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 25, at Vancouver Landing, just west of the Red Lion Hotel at the Quay. Free bus tours of the port are offered every 15 minutes. Jet boat trips along the port waterfront are offered for $5 each. g

The Arc of Clark County is holding an open house from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, June 25, at the Arc Family Center, 65111 NE 18th Street.  

 Headlines at home and from around the world:
(Click on the headlines below for the rest of the story)

Hundreds fete Jan and Steve Oliva--2005 Vancouver First Citizens--Columbian, Kelly Adams

Melching honored with learning fund--Oregonian

Leaving school for new adventures, Melching retires at 59--Oregonian, Holley Gilbert

Top long-range planner removed--Columbian, Erin Middlewood

County commissioners shuffle planning staff--Oregonian, Bill Stewart

How the Seattle monorail got into a bind--Seattle Times, Mike Lindblom

Columbian's best bets for entertainment

Mount St. Helens VolcanoCam [updates every five minutes]--USDA Forest Service, Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
 

The Daily Insider is published by Tony Bacon P.O. Box 2597, Vancouver, WA 98668. (360) 696-1077. Fax 694-9886.
E-Mail tony@dailyinsider.info. Annual subscription, $315.00. Free to all retired persons.